Medical Spas Face Increasing Litigation for Treatments Gone Wrong

Cosmetic procedures that cause scarring and other problems are prompting more lawsuits against medical spas.

Many of the suits are for laser hair removal that causes burning, scarring and pain, the National Law Journal reports. In another suit, a North Carolina woman obtained a $500,000 judgment in January for a serious blood infection that occurred after a procedure to reduce stomach fat.

There are more than 1,800 medical spas in the United States. Most states require a doctor to oversee procedures involving medical devices such as lasers, but many spas aren’t complying, lawyers told the NLJ.

Personal injury lawyer Thomas Boleky of Beutel Hurst Boleky told the publication that litigation against medical spas “is going to be exploding in the next couple of years because of how frequent and often people are having these procedures done.” He says the spas are loosely regulated, and “that’s part of the problem.”